One of the popular things in strength and conditioning now is the idea of a pre-qualifier, or a screen of sorts, for participants to do before they actually start their training program. These can involve stepping over a pvc pipe, bending your ankles until your knees hit a wall, or a bunch of other things; none of which involve anything functional.

The thing is, we can see the same things, usually more clearly, if you just observe regular movements we do in CrossFit. This is Erika Banet during the pre-Fran warmup last Thursday testing out her newly developed butterfly pull-ups. You may notice something about her legs.

On the front kip her left leg is flaring way out to the side and foot is turned out. This means she is missing hip extension (and internal rotation) more on that side than the other, which is able to keep straighter. In Fran this obviously is not going to be addresses because, well, it's Fran. But during warm-ups we'll work on keeping to feet together to encourage that position, and we'll mobilize with some band distraction, couch stretch, or any of the other list of mobility drills we have.

The important part is she is not wasting time doing coorelates for movement like active straight leg raise and inline lunges. Instead she is going through her regular workout program using the functional movement as a diagnostic test, making note of what positions she's missing, and getting incredibly fit doing so.

One of the business mentors things I follow says that you can rate your session based on the percentage of people still at the gym 15 minutes after your session was done.

We had 17 people at mobility session today that ended at 11:00 am. At 11:30 there were still 15 people in the gym.

Next up, Shannon DropBoxed me a few pictures from track season that are in both the May and July Daily WODs galleries, and she also included a picture from her vacation in Jamaica.

... so... yeah... you guys can marvel at that for a bit.

And lastly, I'm not sure from where or when this picture came from, but it was also included in the mass of DropBox content from the last few days. It also just so happens to be a nice sneak peek of what the Theme Workout might be this week:

Here are the parents on the roster who have not complained about some kind of ache or pain in the last 3 months:

Mrs. Carey

Yup, that's it. I will never call you guys old - especially considering you can climb ropes, do handstands, and lift more then high schoolers. But dude, the way your bodies have been acting lately seems to indicate that your lifestyle is catching up with you. Which means you're old.

Luckily, none of the issues you have brought to me is unfixable, and even more luckily, most of the fixes are what most people would consider low-hanging fruit.

DO STUFF!!! Mr. Maslowski, Mr. Z, Mr. Carey, and the others who spend all day at a desk are literally doing the exact opposite of promoting healing. Evolution has made it so moving around is the single thing that promotes healing above all else, and that makes perfect sense when you think about it. If your back is aching, sitting in a chair and watching TV is going to do nothing to help. In fact the opposite. Taking a walk, cutting the grass, swimming in a pool (for your shower), or even hanging out on the ground will all go a long way to promote healing.

DON'T DO STUFF!!! So now that I think about it, the segment above is incorrect. The single thing that promotes healing more than anything else is sleep (with movement coming in a close 2nd place). And yet here I am with a sore ankle/Achilles at 11 pm staring at a computer screen typing this post. I am guilty of neglecting sleep - especially on College Football Saturdays, and you probably have your phone right by your bed, or that TV in your room. I am not a sleep scientist, and I don't even know the word for sleep scientist, but I do find it absolutely amazing how every single human being's body on the planet forces them to sleep every day. This can't be a coincidence. There are times we can get away with it; when you are dinged up is not one of them.

I really should end the post here, but I know Mr. Carey is going to sit at work tomorrow, and Coach Casey is going to stay up till midnight and watch re-runs of the Powerpuff Girls on Cartoon Network, so here are a few other things that will help you heal.

Come to the Champions Club. Literally just come to the gym. You have me, Coach T, Shannon, and Murley at your disposal, and Shakes, Elizabeth, Danielle, and just about everyone else that's been here for over a year has a pretty good idea of how to mash. Heck, Nick Bewick might be the best joint mobilizer in the gym. "Hey Mr. Bennis, can you mash my quads?" or "Yo Lindsey, can you step on my calves?" should be things said in daily converation. And if they can't fix it, the coaches probably can. Shannon's track kids go to her before they go to their trainer. Shakes's entire softball team mashes. If we can't fix you, you probably need surgery. We also have two days of the week dedicated to mobility, and you're invited to both.

Squat. There is one thing that separates Mrs. Carey from every other parent on the list above:

She is the First Goddess of Squats. If you are not Mrs. Carey and reading this, then you are not the First Goddess of Squats. You're probably a pooping dog, or a peeing platypus. Being able to casually hang out in the bottom of a squat shows a good capacty in the hips, knees, and ankles - which also leads to supported back and shoulders. Spend 10 minutes per day in some kind of a squat - doesn't have to be all at once - and you will see a big difference.

...........

You're body's resting state is supposed to be pain-free. Think about that! You are also supposed to have full range of motion in all your joints. What does that look like? Come to a Babies session on Sundays. Or just watch Josh or Mallory swing and jump around the gym during your session. You were born with that capacity too, and you should still be able to do that. The difference is your inactivity has lost it for you.

I'm sure I didn't invent this saying, but I've come to realize that nothing we are doing in the gym is about gaining strength, endurance, or mobility; what we're really doing is reclaiming some of the capacity we've lost due to our lifestyle. If we weren't sedentary, we wouldn't need pull-ups or couch stretches. But we are, and you guys are lucky enough to find the best solution for this problem. So let's use it 4-7 times per week and try to get out of our body's way in the meantime.

This is a reminder that this Wednesday will be our first parents-only team workout at 6:30 pm, immediately following our mobility session. We had a lot of success with this in the 2015 era, and want to bring it back on a weekday in attempts to avoid travel and such. The 5:30 pm mobility session is still on as usual, and we are also doing a 10 am mobility session. So here's the official Wednesday breakdown:

Wednesday

10 am - mobility/makeup

5:30 pm - mobility/makeup

6:30 pm - parents team workout

This weekend is going to be a little tricky for Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and I'll let you guys know about that asap. Expect a babies and regular workout early Saturday morning, one morning one on Sunday (maybe 10 am), and two sessions on Monday (10 am and 5:30 pm). But again, I'll keep you guys posted. Normal weekends will be one session Saturday morning (kids team workout) and one session on Sunday morning (mobility/makeup for everyone). I'm definitely looking forward to this parents session, though. I hope we get a good turnout.

Tomorrow's mobility/makeup workout session will be on your own; I'll be at the gym but I'll be coaching a one-on-one session. I will write a prescription on the board for shoulders and hips, and have the timer running for you to either time your mobility or start a workout.

One of the things that has really helped me get a better understanding of coaching has been to look into the origins of strength and conditioning, and the movements that are included. A simple example would be a Toes to Bar (cue Mel with the rebuttal), knowing it came as a signature movement to the CrossFit Games for judging purposes helped me scale and not be restricted by the range of motion standards.

Squatting to lift weight is another example. Knowing how this thing started as a formal training tool is important to understand why some things are done the way they are.

Just by chance, I stumbled across this video on YouTube from earlier this year that gives a good visual of where formal squatting came from and how it was performed. (Sneak peek: before they had squat racks, they would stand the bar upright and the lifter would have to tip it onto themselves.

We have a two-parter this week. The first comes from Arlene during yesterday's benchmark workout, "Barbara."

Me: "Arlene, you want a towel?"

Arlene: "I want my mommy"

..........

Next, I always like to watch the NBA Summer League games for some reason, and this year Vince Carter has been announcing some of the games. He had an interesting point during the Knicks/Magic game.

Matt Winer: "At this point in your career, is there anything, or any habits, you did when you were younger - 20 or 22 years old - that you look back now like,'Man, I'm glad I did that?'"

Vince Carter: "Well, the first thing that comes to mind is stretching"

Mobility is never the most fun thing to do, compounding that fact that it ranges anywhere from uncomfortable to downright painful. But it's also one of the most important things we can be doing for our body - espcially judging by the intense nature of our workouts.